The Result
Curve - 4 runs
to 3
The Curve - Year-to-Date
42 wins and 39
losses
Brett's Position and
the Batting Order
Did Not Play
Playing
Batting - #
Brett's at-bats
First plate appearance
Second plate appearance
Third plate appearance
Fourth plate appearance
At the end of the Game
0 hit from 0 at-bats
Heard during the game
Email from Brett
Game Reports
The Curve lost the lead in the ninth, but sent
the second largest crowd of the season (8,426) home happy as Dave
Parrish's sacrifice fly in the 11th lifted the Curve, 4-3, over
the Bowie Baysox at Blair County Ballpark
Bowie tied the game at three with a run in the ninth inning off
Curve closer Matt Peterson
Ryan Hubele's sacrifice fly scored pinch-runner Ruddy Yan to force
extra innings
The blown save was just the second of the year for Peterson
Wardell Starling came on in relief for the Curve and worked a
scoreless pair of innings
The Curve were also turned aside in the 10th, but Steven Pearce
led off the 11th inning and advanced all the way to second base
on a two-base throwing error on third baseman Bryan Bass
Andrew McCutchen sacrificed Pearce to third and the Baysox elected
to load the bases by walking both Brian Peterson and Brandon Chaves
intentionally
That set the stage for Parrish, who lifted a fly ball to right
field that was deep enough to score Pearce with the winning run
Starling (3-6) earned the win for Altoona by keeping the Baysox
at bay in the 10th and 11th innings
The Curve took the lead for the first time in the second inning
Pearce and McCutchen singled off of Baysox starter Oscar Alvarez
to start the frame and put runners at second and third
Peterson followed with a sacrifice fly to score Pearce
McCutchen came in on a ground out Chaves and the Curve were ahead
2-0
That lead was cut in half in the third as Blake Davis drove in
Matt Cepicky
McCutchen sent a solo home run to left field to give the Curve
their two-run lead back at 3-1 in the fourth inning
It was McCutchen's first homer since May 21
Bowie got their only other run off of Curve starter Dewon Brazelton
in the sixth inning, when Luis Jimenez singled home Bryan Bass
to cut the lead to 3-2
Dave Davidson and Chris Hernandez combined to turn in two scoreless
innings of relief after Brazelton departed following the sixth
That pushed the game to the ninth where the Baysox plated the
tying run off of Peterson
Nick McCurdy (1-2) took the loss for Bowie after permitting the
winning run to the Curve in the 11th
The win gave Altoona a split of the four-game series with Bowie
and allowed them to finish their eight-game homestand with a record
of 6-2
The Curve depart for a six-game road trip starting with three
games in Trenton on Wednesday
RHP Mike Crotta (0-0, 0.00) will make his Curve debut against
RHP Brett Smith (6-4, 2.77) for Trenton
Jason Bowers made a play that Curve manager
Tim Leiper said Brooks Robinson couldn’t make, walked off
the field to a bowing Milver Reyes and had teammates humming the
‘‘SportsCenter’’ theme afterwards
All the adoration still may not have done the play justice
Bowers made a spectacular, game-changing play at third base in
Tuesday’s 4-3 win over Bowie in 11 innings before 8,426 fans
at Blair County Ballpark
The Baysox had the go-ahead run at third with one out in the top
of the 11th, and the Curve infield was drawn in
Jeff Fiorentino cracked a hard liner to third, and Bowers dove
to his left to keep it in the infield
That was part one
‘‘He catches it, then you see him laying there on his
back’’ Leiper said
‘‘How’s he going to get the throw off?’’
Bowers then twisted and threw a bullet from his right knee - as
he fell to the ground - to catcher Dave Parrish
That was part two
‘‘Oh my God, he fired a strike right there to Parrish’’
Leiper said
‘‘That’s un-freaking-believable’’
Overlooked in Bowers’ dramatics was Parrish’s exceptional
job blocking the plate to tag out speedy Ruddy Yan
The sensational play, arguably one of the five best defensive
gems in Blair County Ballpark history, kept the game tied at 3-3
‘‘That has to go down as one of the best plays I’ve
ever seen’’ said pitcher Wardell Starling, who was on
the mound at the time
‘‘That was unbelievable
That’s the ESPN No 1 play today’’
Teammate Brian Peterson imitated the play in the Curve clubhouse,
and other teammates serenaded Bowers with web gem accolades
‘‘It’s definitely up there, it’s definitely
up there’’ Bowers said in terms of the best plays he’s
ever made
All the action was wrapped up in about a two-second window
‘‘If you asked him to do it 100 more times, there’s
no way’’ Leiper said
‘‘He only had to do it once, and he did’’
Bowers has played just three games at third base since joining
Altoona two months ago and only eight in the past three seasons
‘‘At third base, you don’t have time anyways’’
he said
‘‘I didn’t have time to think
I just reacted, and it turned out good’’
Altoona pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the 11th
when Steven Pearce scored on Parrish’s sacrifice fly
Oddly enough, Pearce reached on Bowie third baseman Bryan Bass’
error
Bass bounced his throw to first base, and the ball skipped off
the fence to let Pearce take second
Andrew McCutchen’s sacrifice bunt moved Pearce to third
Intentional walks to Peterson and Brandon Chaves loaded the bases,
and Parrish lifted a lazy flyball to right-center field
Right fielder Val Majewski’s throw was well off the mark,
and Pearce pumped both fists as popped up from his slide
‘‘All we had to do is go out there and get one run instead
of trying to scratch across two’’ Starling said, highlighting
Bowers’ play
Altoona left fielder Jason Delaney made his own defensive gem,
diving to his right to catch a slicing liner by Majewski, to end
the eighth
Bowie trailed, 3-2, and had the tying run at third
The Baysox drew even against Matt Peterson, the Curve’s closer
and best reliever, in the ninth
Bowie loaded the bases with one out on two walks (one intentional)
and a single before tying the game at 3-3 on Ryan Hubele’s
sacrifice fly
Peterson blew only his second save of the season
McCutchen went 2-for-4 with his fifth homer of the season, his
first since May 21, and he has hit safely in 11 of his past 13
games
‘‘I’ve been battling and staying consistent’’
McCutchen said
‘‘Things have always been turning around, I feel, but
you can actually begin to see it’’
His average is now a season-best .239
Starling (3-6) allowed just one hit and struck out two in two
innings
Baysox reliever Nick McCurdy (1-2) took the loss, giving up an
unearned run in two frames
Curve starter Dewon Brazelton took a no-decision, allowing two
runs on five hits in six innings, but put his squad in position
to go 6-2 on the homestand
‘‘We know what our strengths are, we know what our weaknesses
are’’ Leiper said
‘‘It seems like everybody’s doing a little bit
extra to protect the weaknesses and bolster our strengths’’